Fishing in the Catskills

At left, my friend Jim fishing just below the Downsville covered bridge on the East Branch of the Delaware river below the Pepaction dam.

It was a great morning and a solid snap. We took turns as subject for "action shots" to say we'd fished the pool.

No fish. Some bugs.

 Here are the bridge details nicely spelled out and poorly photographed by yours truly

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Above, a couple pictures of the Beaverkill below Roscoe. It can be a little industrial fishing due to the confined nature of the Catskill valleys and the long established roads and infrastructure.

The Willowemoc flowing below the school in downtown Livingston Manor. We had lunch on this deck and the view -- and bugs -- were great. No risers.










 Shopping at Dette flies after lunch. Great place. They had the Partridge hooks I really wanted to top off the bins. I have materials but my hook supply took a big hit between this trip and last fall's Yellowstone.

Feeder stream into the far upper Willowemoc above the mile-and-a-quarter stretch completely owned by the DeBruce club.  Looks like Alan's sort of water.

The river is wonderful at this spot but we were scouting, drove to the upstream pond, and came back to find a pair of anglers just suiting up. We waved. We kicked ourselves. We drove on.

Seeing the multitude of 'Posted" signs and the cable barriers across the Willowemoc river demarking the DeBruce club stretch certainly made me hope a outbreak of leprosy infects guests.

I understand the stream ownership rules based on the fact the river was not historically used for navigation. Doesn't make me like it or folks that hold to it. I won't trespass; but, I'm not buying any drinks in the club room.

Our first day involved a great deal of scouting. Fishing in the evening was on the upper west branch of the Delaware of which I now realize I have no pictures. It was right across the road from our house. More the pity.

The next several days saw fishing in the famous pools of the Beaverkill (caught fish) and an adventure into the Neversink Unique Area (caught fish).

Until I cover these, a fish picture from the famous Hendrickson pool.:

This year I am trying to high-speed the net picture.

This guy I had to hold because he inhaled a barbless fly! Easy extraction with forceps, post extraction snap following another in-net wetting, and a release. Good expression, though. 10" - 12" class fish.

Prost.